Men's road and individual time trial

PASCAL PAVANI

Key dates: July 28, road race; Aug. 1, time trial Venue: Road race, The Mall; time trial, start-finish at Hampton Court Palace Big story: The riders who have just finished the grueling Tour de France will have little time to recover in time for the Olympic races, which will start less than two weeks after the tour. For example, Spain's Samuel Sanchez, the defending road racing gold medalist, suffered a Tour de France injury that might keep him from the Games. Top U.S. prospects: Tyler Farrar took a tour of the road race course and finds that it suits his style. He is particularly fond of the Box Hill climb and said he would be disappointed if he didn't medal. Others to watch: Britain's Mark Cavendish (above) has been the best sprinter in the world and has focused so much on the Box Hill climb of the road race course that he has lost weight to make the climbing portion of the course more suitable for him. German sprinter Andre Greipel and Peter Sagan of Slovakia are also road race medal threats. Fabian Cancellara, the defending gold medalist from Switzerland, is favored to defend his time trial title. Little-known fact: London organizers expect over 15,000 to watch the road race, possibly the largest crowd ever for the event, and most will try to climb to Box Hill, the uppermost part of the course about 20 miles outside of London.

Key dates: July 28, road race; Aug. 1, time trial Venue: Road race, The Mall; time trial, start-finish at Hampton Court Palace Big story: The riders who have just finished the grueling Tour de France will have little time to recover in time for the Olympic races, which will start less than two weeks after the tour. For example, Spain's Samuel Sanchez, the defending road racing gold medalist, suffered a Tour de France injury that might keep him from the Games. Top U.S. prospects: Tyler Farrar took a tour of the road race course and finds that it suits his style. He is particularly fond of the Box Hill climb and said he would be disappointed if he didn't medal. Others to watch: Britain's Mark Cavendish (above) has been the best sprinter in the world and has focused so much on the Box Hill climb of the road race course that he has lost weight to make the climbing portion of the course more suitable for him. German sprinter Andre Greipel and Peter Sagan of Slovakia are also road race medal threats. Fabian Cancellara, the defending gold medalist from Switzerland, is favored to defend his time trial title. Little-known fact: London organizers expect over 15,000 to watch the road race, possibly the largest crowd ever for the event, and most will try to climb to Box Hill, the uppermost part of the course about 20 miles outside of London. (PASCAL PAVANI)

Key dates: July 28, road race; Aug. 1, time trial Venue: Road race, The Mall; time trial, start-finish at Hampton Court Palace Big story: The riders who have just finished the grueling Tour de France will have little time to recover in time for the Olympic races, which will start less than two weeks after the tour. For example, Spain's Samuel Sanchez, the defending road racing gold medalist, suffered a Tour de France injury that might keep him from the Games. Top U.S. prospects: Tyler Farrar took a tour of the road race course and finds that it suits his style. He is particularly fond of the Box Hill climb and said he would be disappointed if he didn't medal. Others to watch: Britain's Mark Cavendish (above) has been the best sprinter in the world and has focused so much on the Box Hill climb of the road race course that he has lost weight to make the climbing portion of the course more suitable for him. German sprinter Andre Greipel and Peter Sagan of Slovakia are also road race medal threats. Fabian Cancellara, the defending gold medalist from Switzerland, is favored to defend his time trial title. Little-known fact: London organizers expect over 15,000 to watch the road race, possibly the largest crowd ever for the event, and most will try to climb to Box Hill, the uppermost part of the course about 20 miles outside of London.